We live in a world motivated by the attempt to find simple solutions for everyday things. Many memorable inventions are remembered because they solve simple problems – the wheel is memorable because it made transporting goods easier, and eventually progressed to being a major component of automobiles. It’s incredible to think that in the past human kind was mostly limited to walking and carrying things hundreds of miles, but now thanks to this little invention we can drive hundreds of miles in the course of a few hours. In the same way that the wheel was a simple solution, I believe gardens can be simple solutions too.

When you think of eating a piece of fruit or a fresh vegetable, you typically look for the ripest one of the bunch. Often when we go to the store, we notice green bananas are not quite ready to be consumed, and yellow bananas are perfect for our taste buds. Did you know the same can be said for red bell peppers? These peppers originally are green bell peppers – but only after being left some time to fully ripen. It is an incredible change they undergo – from dense, forest colored green to a very vibrant hue of red as they ripen.

While there are many different greenhouse structures, I have found the Lean To Greenhouse to be perfect for my needs. As you may have seen in some of my gardening videos, I constructed my Lean To Greenhouse as an extension to one of my garages on my property. As a DIY project, it was relatively easy to set up as it did not really require significant technical skills like routing electrical wires. Of course, if constructing your own Lean To Greenhouse is out of the question, it is still possible to consult with a local contractor or purchase a lean to greenhouse kit online.

Today we will examine 10 reasons why a Lean To Greenhouse may be the right choice for your gardening needs.

Summer time is traditionally the "best time" for the backyard garden. It's great for many reasons, such as being able to see real, significant growth of your garden, as well as being able to enjoy the warmer weather that isn't always available during the fall, winter, and even spring months.

Over the course of the year, I had produced quite a few videos showing the early summer update. Given that 2016 is coming to a close, I thought I would put all of these together in one neat article on the Plant-Smart Living website so you can have convenient access to all of these informative videos.

Now that we have officially entered into the world of winter - and the colder weather, frost, and snow that comes with it - I thought it would be useful to discuss how to prepare your garden for winter.

One of the nightmares many novice gardeners have is losing all of their crops to the cold. After all, no one wants to put out all of the effort to maintain these fresh organic veggies to not be able to pick them at their ripest.

Fortunately, preparing your garden for winter is actually very easy to do. The main thing to learn is when to start preparing for growth of plants that thrive in the cold, and letting go of those that do not.

I produced many videos over the course of 2016 - many of which were clumped into garden updates where I was able to showcase many of my beautiful harvests, and discuss how you can grow specific vegetable varieties in your own backyard garden as well. What follows is a list of my late summer garden update videos that were published in 2016. I hope you find some enjoyment and useful information in these, and I plan to experiment more with my garden as 2017 comes into view.

During the height of garden preparation and growing season, Farmer Fred has produced a large number of videos to cover all of the seasonal updates of his backyard garden. These updates are presented to provide some instruction and background into the sowing and harvesting of various fruits and veggies grown in the garden - with some helpful tips for maintaining your own garden, too!

These videos reveal the Early Fall Garden Update 2016 - feel free to watch as many as you'd like to get a real taste for Farmer Fred's garden and advice!

Raised garden beds are one of the key garden features I like to recommend to people looking to get into gardening. Whether this is your first time setting up a garden and you need a simple recommendation to take to heart, or if you have been gardening for decades (like myself), it is something well worth trying if you have not.

When I first started gardening, I struggled with growing certain vegetables, and always seemed to battle pests and veggie predators looking for a free lunch. Converting much of my garden to raised garden beds has significantly improved the quality of my vegetables, the quantity of my harvest throughout each growing season, and has reduced many natural-but-negative influences on my garden.